Aadhar account not needed for subsidised LPG

Subsidised cooking gas cylinders can be purchased without an Aadhaar account, Petroleum Minister M Veerappa Moily informed parliament Friday.

"A clarification will be issued within a week," Moily said, referring to the government's earlier decision to suspend the Direct Benefit Transfer for LPG (DBTL) scheme till a panel reviewed its implementation.

Along with the decision to raise to 12 the cap on annual availability of subsidised LPG cylinders, the Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs last month decided to suspend the DBTL scheme, thereby delinking the Aadhaar account from disbursal of subsidised cooking gas cylinders.

Many consumers either do not have the Aadhaar number or do not possess a bank account linked to their Aadhaar number.

Subsidised cylinders can now be purchased without an Aadhaar account, Moily told the Lok Sabha. He said there have been problems in the DBT programme, mainly related to banks, which have been given Rs.435 per cylinder as subsidy. But this is not enough as the subsidised price of one 14.2 kg cylinder has increased to Rs.700.

The minister clarified that the government has not increased the price of subsidised cylinders for consumers.